Quest for Fire
by Redeh
Summary: When Leo disappears, a quest is in order. Jason, Piper, Percy, and Annabeth must find and rescue the son of Hephaesteus before the summer solstice in three days, or a dangerous threat will take over. But, there's a problem. Leo Valdez does not want to be found... Will an ancient curse break Leo? Can the four questers fight the Dragon King? **After the Giant War** MULTICHAPTER!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is after the Giant War, and everybody is 17-ish. Except Hazel, she's fourteen. Nico's fifteen, I think so, and Thalia is forever 15 and 364 days. I'm going to assume Reyna is 17 too.**

**_JASON, CHAPTER 1: _****_When Freaking Out, Refrain From Shocking People_**

**Jason didn't mean **to knock innocent bystanders out. He couldn't help but shock some people. He was absolutely livid. And when he walked by, his frustrated anger peaked and two people walking past him ended up being rushed to the infirmary.

_Stupid, corpse-breath, lying, worm! I hate you, Octavian, with a burning passion. _After he apologized to the legionnaires he had knocked out, he headed to his villa, passing Terminus. Jason shook his head. _He made me get poetic about it. _Unconsciously, he wondered what his friends from Camp Half-Blood would say.

See, Jason was a Roman demigod. About a year ago, he'd been a leader at Camp Jupiter, when he was switched with a guy named Percy Jackson. Percy was a leader at Camp Half-Blood across the U.S.. Juno, or Hera in Greek terms, united the two camps through the switch. Percy went on a quest with Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang, while Jason went on a quest with Leo Valdez and Piper McLean.

_Piper. _Piper, the tomboy daughter of Aphrodite. Just thinking about her beautiful kaleidoscope eyes made his heart flutter. Piper was his girlfriend from the Greek camp.

Jason felt absolutely horrible about leaving her. Sure, she had tons of friends. She had Leo, her best friend. She had Annabeth, Percy, Thalia, Nico, Grover, and everybody there. It still made him feel horrible.

"Earth to praetor Grace. Hello? Jason? You in there? You've been standing here for five minutes staring at me. I even ran into you." A familiar voice jarred him from his thoughts.

"Sorry, Reyna." Jason mumbled. A look of understanding flashed through her dark eyes. Her dark brown hair was left down messy, her golden dagger strapped to her waist, and her praetors' cape fixed perfectly on her shoulders. Reyna was the only one besides Frank and Hazel who could really relate to him, because it was a commonly known fact Leo and Reyna had a crush on each other. Who knew? They were exact polar opposites.

Reyna bent down to pick up a book she'd dropped by running into Jason. "I have good news." She said, smiling. Hope rose in Jason's chest, and he completely forgot about his past frustration with Octavian. Or Octopus, as Leo always pronounced it. He couldn't read the name tag on his first day at Camp Jupiter right, so he accidentally said Octopus. Jason will never forget the centurion's expression.

"What?" Jason asked.

Reyna smirked. "We're setting off for Camp Half-Blood. In, uh," She checked the clock, "Two hours."

"YES!" Jason yelled. He'd completely forgotten the fact he was in the middle of the forum. He blushed and there were a few snickers from demigods who were walking past.

"Jason. It is not wise of a praetor to do that." Reyna hissed. He noticed her cheeks were pink, and then he realized how him yelling "YES!" could be taken the wrong way.

"Sorry." Jason apologized for the second time in less than five minutes.

"You'd better not do that again," Reyna threatened, tapping her dagger.

"Hopefully you don't kill me." Jason said.

"If you're not careful, I will." Reyna replied.

"Uh, what do I do now?" Jason asked, blushing a little more. He supposed to now what to do. But he was too excited to figure it out.

"Idiot. Go tell Frank and Hazel to pack, and then pack yourself. We'll still have to get Arion ready." With that, Reyna turned on her heel and strode away.

Jason altered his course for the Fifth Cohort Barracks. After the _Argo II _landed in Camp Jupiter for the first time, and Jason came back, the Fifth Cohort had been getting less bad notions and their reputation was pretty high. Jason silently thanked Percy for helping him raise the Cohort's reputation.

The place was empty now. The beds were a little messy, and there was some armor strewn on the floor. Other than that, it was pretty clean. Not that Jason could do better, because it looked like a hurricane had hit his villa. Reyna went after him for that a lot.

Ducking back outside, he had a pretty good idea of where Hazel was. Heading to one of the fields on the outskirts of Camp Jupiter, he saw Hazel riding Arion around. The duo zipped through the trees, demolishing branches and bushes. Together, they made an unstoppable team. Not to mention Arion would be behind enemy lines before monsters could blink. Dear gods, Jason hated riding that horse. It made his ears pop, his knees turn to jelly, and it felt wrong. Of course, the horse was Neptune's sacred animal.

"Hazel!" Jason called. There was a flash of tan and black, and suddenly horse and rider were next to him. Hazel, sweaty from the heat, slipped of her horse and hit the ground. Jason smiled.

"We're going to the Greek camp in - Oh gods, an hour and thirty minutes? We still have to tell Frank." Jason frowned. He didn't want to be late. He seriously just wanted to bend the air and fly, but he really couldn't keep that up for long. He would get too tired. His other option was to steal Scipio, but Reyna would have his head on a spear.

Hazel did a little dance. "Um, what exactly was that?" Jason asked, a little bewildered.

"It was a happy dance." Hazel laughed.

Jason cocked his head. "Seriously? Should I be worried?"

"No, you shouldn't. Thalia did one when we defeated the Giants." Hazel said. Jason laughed at the memory. Sure, it was only an Iris Message, but she still danced.

"I forgot," Jason stated.

"Of course, the mighty Roman praetor, slayer of the Trojan Sea Monster, Krios, Poriphyrion, and a bunch of other uncountable stuff would forget the meaning of happy dancing." Hazel said sarcastically, and Jason blushed.

"Come on, and let's get Frank." Hazel dragged Jason to the archery range. Jason mentally facepalmed himself. Of course, Frank would be here.

"Hey," Frank said casually, exactly when the arrow hit the mark. Perfectly.

"We're going to Camp Half-Blood!" Hazel exclaimed excitedly.

Frank lowered his bow. "When?"

"'Bout an hour," Jason replied.

"We _finally _get to see them again." Frank said.

"I know. It feels odd without Annabeth stating random architecture facts, or Percy angering Terminus, or Leo making jokes, and Piper commenting on everything..." Hazel trailed off.

"I agree. I wanna see how everybody else is doing." Jason nodded at Frank's statement.

"Let's go." Jason said. He followed the pair to Fifth's Barracks, then he set out for his own villa.

Once inside, he walked around the shattered glass in the floor. Jason had a little disagreement with the window last night. Let's just say Jason was angry at Octopus then too.

Throwing a pack together, he ditched his praetors' cape. He wouldn't need it at Camp Half-Blood. Jason set course for the Field of Mars.

But, his course was interrupted. By a sixty foot long fire-breathing bronze dragon. Jason, quick to draw his _gladius_, prepared for an attack. The gigantic beast did the exact opposite. He landed on the Field of Mars and began romping around like a super-dangerous puppy. Even from several meters away, he could easily hear the gears clacking together inside it. And around the creature's neck was a black collar with a gold tag. Even though the chain kept sliding with the automaton's movement, Jason made it out.

_Festus II. _

Leo had rebuilt their old metallic friend. Jason shook his head and laughed. It was now that the metal dragon noticed him. It immediately romped over, and tried to attack him like Mrs. O'Leary. So maybe the Romans' visit wasn't so much of a surprise after all.

"Jason?" Reyna asked tentatively.

"It's okay Reyna. This is just Leo's automaton."

"Festus? He named a deadly, fire-breathing automaton _Happy_?" Reyna queried.

"Hey. We saved the world on Happy." Jason answered.

"I'm guessing that's why he's Festus II." Reyna stated.

"Yup." Jason answered, popping the last letter.

"Well, that's definitely one happy dragon." Hazel said.

Frank looked pale. Jason elbowed him.

"Hey," Frank furrowed his eyebrows.

"What?" Jason asked innocently. Frank frowned.

Festus II whirled his teeth and clicked his jaw together, multiple times, like a code.

"I think that's Morse Code." Reyna said, concentrating on the repeated clacking of the dragon's jaw.

"Wait... How did it get past the defenses?" Frank asked.

"Um, I have no idea. You'd think they'd notice a gigantic flying bronze dragon named Happy." Jason replied.

"You would." Hazel said.

"Let's just go already, we're late as it is." Reyna barked. With that, the four of them hopped on Festus II.

They were about halfway there when Jason realized something.

"Reyna, who did we pick as the replacement praetors?" He asked, slightly panicky.

Reyna rolled her eyes. "Gwen offered too, and I also picked Jasmine from the First Cohort."

Jason nodded. Gwen was fair, even-tempered, and loyal to Rome. Jasmine was fierce, and she stood up for what was right, but she never broke the rules. A miniature Reyna. Or Reyna's secret twin. Jason couldn't decide.

As Festus II soared through the sky, Jason couldn't help but be in awe. The automaton was amazing - he didn't even know how it flew. Come on; it _had _to be super heavy.

But soon, his thoughts drifted to Piper. Would she even like him? Would she like somebody else? Jason knew he wanted to see her and give her a hug and whatnot. As deserts gave way to mountains, and mountains gave way to forests, and those forests gave way to farms nestled in rolling hills, Jason found himself getting more nervous by the second. Finally, the dragon slowed to a halt. Jason was glad they hadn't run into any monsters.

Looking down, Jason found Festus II was hovering over Half-Blood Hill, where Peleus was guarding the Golden Fleece. It hung from the branches of Thalia's Tree, glittering in the sunset. It had taken them - what, seven hours?- to get here. By flying dragon, no less.

And suddenly, they were riding a speeding bronze bullet straight to the ground. It was _amazing_, in Jason's opinion. Though, Frank looked ready to puke, Reyna was holding on for dear life, and Hazel let a startled yelp escape her lips. All too soon, Festus II spread his glittering wings and sailed down the slope of the hill behind Thalia's tree. The bronze talons met the ground with a jerk, and a thump. The Bronze Dragon jogged to a stop in the middle of Camp Half-Blood.

From the creature's back, he took everything in. The cabins in a Greek omega shape, the strawberry fields, the beautiful sunlight gleaming against the water, the pounding waves and gentle breeze, the campers racing around. He felt that typical _Go away _feeling in his gut, but he ignored it.

Sliding off Festus II, he was slammed into the ground by a silver blur.

"JASON!" His sister, Thalia the huntress, yelled.

"Nice to see you, sis." Jason laughed.

"Hazel! Frank! Jason! Reyna! Gods I missed you Romans." Percy and Annabeth came over. They were sweaty, as if they'd been sparring. Knowing them, they probably were.

"Guys! What's up?" He asked, looking around for a certain daughter of Aphrodite. Jason failed to notice his girlfriend creeping up on him. The group held back laughter. Piper leaped, successfully tackling her boyfriend to the ground.

"I missed you." She whispered in his ear. Jason's heart soared.

"I did too, but you really have to get off of me to get a proper hug." Jason complained.

"Alright," Piper readily agreed, and she offered Jason her hand. Piper pulled him up as everybody else finished their laughter. Jason's heart fluttered like a hummingbird's wings when he saw his girlfriend for the first time in six months. He couldn't help but notice the sadness in her wondrous eyes.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked, frowning. Piper found an interest in the ground.

Turning to Percy, he asked, "What happened?" In response, Percy dragged a finger across his neck. Universal sign language for 'no'. This just made Jason more worried.

"What happened?" Jason demanded from Piper. She met his gaze.

Looking around, Jason noticed there was somebody missing from their group. His eyes widened. "No- No. You can't be serious..." He trailed off.

"Jason. Yes, I'm serious. We can't find him." Piper said, voice sad.

"Who?" Frank asked.

"What Frank said." Hazel added.

"Gods no..." Reyna must have put it together.

"Guys, he went missing this morning. We've been searching everywhere, but we can't find him..." Piper choked up for a bit before saying, "Leo's missing."

**A/N: Dun dun duuuuun! XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Because I love Leo so much, it's from his POV. Bwhahaha! At the moment, he's not a happy camper. Not at all. So, I tried to capture that. I tried to make him comedic, yet seriously inwardly depressed. Poor, poor Leo. Thanks for reviewing, guys! For those who haven't, it's NEVER to late! Yep. On with the story.**

_**LEO, CHAPTER 2:**__** RUNNING IS TECHNICALLY DODGING EMOTIONS**_

**Leo would never **forgive himself for this. He'll never forget Camp Half-Blood, his first real home with friends and family since he was seven years old. He'll never forget that quest to save the world. He'll never forget Gaea, or the _Argo II_, or Festus, or even Festus II. He _won't _forget. Ever.

All of this was running through his mind while he grabbed his pack and shoved stuff in it. Because, he wasn't going to ignore the last warning he had.

Then again, Leo would never forgive himself if history decided to have a relapse, and he hurt someone. Leo would never forget what Hephaesteus, his dad, had told him.

_"Fire users are dangerous, lad. To their friends, their family, to themselves. Thomas figured that out too late. He lost it all because of it. I didn't want to give fire abilities, but it was as the Fates decreed, lad. I cannot help, as that is forbidden. Neither can I take it away. Flee, boy. You can run from anything, because fire always moves. Your control will cease, and your only option is to _run_."_

Leo felt cold chills. He could run. Leo could do this. He could run, he could do this. Leo's face was wet, and he was getting cold sweats. Nevertheless, he grabbed his pack and fled to Bunker 9.

As soon as he left, nobody else could open it. He was glad the _Argo II _was at the beach. Leo raced inside the Bunker. Hastily grabbing a pen and paper from a table, he felt the need to write it down.

_The next time you see this place open, I have no idea what year it'll be. But if you open it, there's probably a fire user at the camp. Their dad, my dad, told me that fire abilities are dangerous. They'll get your friends killed. They'll get your family killed. Run. Go as far as you can, and never look back. Ask Chiron about the prophecy of seven. The second Giant War. Don't forget. Ever. _

Leo shoved the note in a drawer. He had a feeling he'd never see it again.

With that, Leo shut the door to Bunker 9, sealing the note and all his former projects in. Like a gigantic time capsule, that couldn't be opened without a key. He turned around and trudged back into the woods. Leo's thoughts returned to his dream.

_"Hello, son," Hephaesteus had said. _

_"Um, hi?" Leo said, with a question mark. It was odd to get a dream from his dad. _

_"Leo, this is urgent. I've been watching you lately, and I know you're struggling to control it." Hephaesteus barked. Leo shifted nervously. Had his dad seen his close call earlier?_

_"I saw what happened. With that bratty son of Apollo. He deserved it, but the next time Leo, it won't be somebody who does deserve it." Leo didn't reply. A cold feeling crept up his spine._

_"Leo. Every fire user has this problem. I know you have the need to run. Use it." Leo's eyes widened in shock._

_"What? You want me to die a very painful death because I left Camp?" _

_"You have to. It's your only choice." Hephaesteus grumbled. Leo could tell he wasn't happy about it either._

_"But..." Leo trailed off. Deep inside him, he wanted to run. And he hated himself for it._

_"I know this is painful, but think of your mother. Do you want your friends to die as well?" Hephaesteus growled. Somebody forgot to take their happy pills today._

_Leo shuddered. "That can't happen."_

_"They trust you. They've let their guard down, and unless you leave, they'll pay dearly for it."_

_"But... Why?" His voice cracked. "I get a home for once, and now you're telling me I have to run again?" Leo was suddenly livid. A spark leaped from his hands, and he recoiled in shock. He had set himself on fire, just by being angry. It had gotten _worse _since today's incident._

_"Fire users are dangerous, lad. To their friends, their family, to themselves. Thomas figured that out too late. He lost it all because of it. I didn't want to give fire abilities, but it was as the Fates decreed, lad. I cannot help, as that is forbidden. Neither can I take it away. Flee, boy. You can run from anything, because fire always moves. Your control will cease, and your only option is to run." _

_Then the dream had faded._

Leo had woken up in a cold sweat, and shaking so hard he had to take five minutes to compose himself.

Leo arrived at the main square at Camp Half-Blood, and he took a last look at it. The strawberry fields glowed silver, and the Artemis Cabin glowed as bright as the moon. He looked at each cabin, and his heart just seemed to get heavier. A lump formed in Leo's throat. He saw the _Argo II _resting proudly on the beach, the sleeping form of Peleus, Festus II romping and kicking up sand on the beach. The hot naiads danced in the water. The Big House's shadow cascaded into the forest. The bronze eagle weathervane whipped in the breeze. It all smelled of strawberries and salt water. And... a hint of smoke. From this morning. Leo started shaking again.

No. He... he couldn't leave his friends. But, he had to. He couldn't let them die, like his mother had died. He wouldn't be able to take it. Leo would come undone.

Like he was now. That smiling mask he had built so long ago, so he could move on and forget, was shattered. For the first time in years, people could see who Leo really was. They could see the sadness he always ran from. It tackled him like a pro-football player.

But, nobody was there to look.

_Because they don't care. _Leo thought, bitterly, his heart wrenching a little.

As he started up the hill, he pocketed the whistle he'd made. No matter where he was, he could call Festus II. He could be in China and the bronze dragon would come.

He reached the top of the hill all too soon. Standing under the dark shadow of the massive pine tree, Leo looked normal. He didn't look depressed, distressed, and completely overwrought. Because you couldn't see his face.

Patting the trunk for the last time, he pulled out an old camera. Snapping a picture, he threw the camera down the hill. He wouldn't need it. The old machine hit the ground with a high _clink_.

Then, he ran. It took all of his willpower to not turn back. Leo kept running along the country roads. He didn't care that his face was streaming tears oh-so-heroically. He didn't care that he was starving and completely exhausted.

He just ran.

Leo ran because he was good at it, and he needed to get away. Leo hoped, selfishly, that the Camp actually missed him. He thought about Reyna, and how he had a crush on the daughter of Bellona. How she and Jason and Frank and Hazel were supposed to come tomorrow, and he wouldn't be there to make stupid jokes and hit on hot girls.

Like the engine of a car, Leo's mind fell back into his regular routine. Dodge the cops. Steal to live. Make the jokes. Box up the bad memories of this place, and throw them in the closet. You don't need them. Force a smile.

Never forget.

Never forget. Leo ran through his own personal set of rules. He could box up the memories all he wanted to, but he couldn't forget.

He didn't want to. He needed to be armed with the memories of running away six times.

No, seven. He'd run away _seven _times now. Just like there were seven in the prophecy.

Finally, Leo stopped. He was out of breath, and there was a river right under an old wooden bridge. Quickly crossing the ditch, he sat down and pulled his knees to his chest. Leo looked up and surveyed his surroundings.

The river was a rushing mass of dark ribbons rolling into the distance. The creaky wooden bridge above Leo's head led off to a slit of black asphalt weaving through the green fields. The whole scene looked straight from some stupid Disney movie and whatnot. That happy stuff that made him, in his current situation, want to crawl in a hole and die a very painful death. That hurt. A lot.

"Stupid freaking happy people. Always so freaking cheery, with their freaking inspirational quotes and Disney princess movies," Leo growled to himself.

He huddled closer to the rocky outcropping behind him.

Why couldn't he have a home? Why couldn't he have friends that he wouldn't kill? Leo had never felt more hopeless. Reality sucks. Leo had never felt like such a coward.

_Running isn't cowardice. I'm just dodging my emotions. Or running life's course faster, _Leo chided himself.

Leo was absolutely miserable. All he needed was somebody to help him get back up again - to help him move on again.

But, of course, he won't have anybody. So he'll have to do what he does best. Build up his old facade. The grinning mask he let everybody see. Leo wanted to tell somebody how freaking broken he really was, how broken he'll always be. To Hades with being whole. That notion died when Leo left Camp Half-Blood, quite literally going up in flames.

In all honesty, being whole and complete was too mainstream.

Leo smirked. Everybody else could be whole all they wanted too. Leo was always different, so why hide it? Leo was never always _whole_; and he hid it with the jokes. If he never took anything seriously, nobody expected him to do much. Leo liked it that way. He was always spotted out for being The Boy who Laughed. You can't be the Boy who Lived if you don't do much living, now can you?

Leo liked watching parts of the Harry Potter movies. Heck no, he would never read the book. Or watch the entire movie. He was _way _too ADHD for that. But he found comfort in knowing there was somebody - despite how fictional they are - had just as much of a messed up life as he did. Leo didn't want to hog all the bad life moments out there.

Leo fell asleep there under that bridge. He kept hidden well, and nobody noticed him. Of course, nobody was there. In his heart, Leo knew the list of people who were always there for him had died with his mother.

Because you can't really be there for somebody you can't help up, because that person is burning too hard.

**A/N: I think I epicly failed this. XD I couldn't help myself with the Harry Potter. I had too! Even if Leo really didn't see much of the movie or read the book. I couldn't help myself with the 'mainstream' either. Come on, this is Leo. I tried to make it sad. I know, it's shorter than the other chapter. I'm sorry. I'll try to post another chapter tommorrow, but no promises. I have to stay late. Even if it is posted, it'll be late.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: A chapter! Yay! This one's from Piper's view, and whoever guesses the puzzle first wins! The trick? I can't tell you the puzzle. Bwahahaha! The prize? Your own self-importance! Thanks for reviewing! It gives me a warm feeling to know that people like my writing. I can't even imagine how Rick Riordan feels. That has gotta the best feeling ever, to know people love your writing. This chapter is gonna suck, because Piper is too lovey-dovey for me.**

_**PIPER, CHAPTER 3:**__** We Make a Gameplan **_

**Jason wrapped his **arms around her. Frankly, she wanted to cry into his shirt. It had to be the longest day ever. At least she could vaguely relate to Annabeth now.

Only vaguely, though. She was ashamed to say that she hadn't searched nearly as hard as Nyssa, or Jake, or even 9 year-old Harley. That kid could knock out a Cyclops. Piper also didn't want to say that she didn't hang out much with Leo anymore; usually she was with Annabeth, Rachel, or fixing her cabin mates. And when she did talk to him, she'd failed to notice how distant he was.

Until yesterday morning. Alex Levi, an egotistical Apollo camper, had made Leo absolutely enraged. Oddly enough, nobody really knew how. Nobody was paying attention. That was, until the temperature spiked sky-high, and the next thing she knew the grass was burning a 10-foot-wide circle.

And then she saw Leo. He was positively terrifying, glaring at Alex liked he'd tried to murder him on several occasions. Then, whatever rush had caused Leo to blow faded, and then _he _looked terrified. Alex barely survived at all.

"We'll find him," Jason promised, whispering into her hair. Piper gripped his hand.

"I know, this must be very... um, _traumatic _for you, but I have a camp to run. You may not sit there all day." A very unhelpful voice growled.

Piper blushed. "Sorry, Mr. D," She mumbled.

"That's better. I don't want any PDA moments, Perla McDonald." Mr. D paused, "I have a pinochle game to win. Come, Chiron." Mr. D waved to nobody and went into the Big House.

"You'd think he would realize that Chiron isn't there." Hazel whispered. Piper smiled, but everybody else burst out laughing.

Piper's smile went upside down. "Am I the only one that can contain my laughter?"

"Yes," Frank answered.

"Good for you," Percy cheerily remarked.

"Shush, Mr. Saviour of Olympus." Piper hissed playfully.

"Somebody here agrees with me!" Annabeth said. Piper gave her a thumbs-up. Jason chuckled.

"Well. This is absolutely lovely," Reyna sarcastically muttered to herself. Piper barely caught it. So, she was right! Reyna has a crush on Leo. _Yes! I guessed it!_

"Wait... If Leo's missing, why haven't you issued a quest?" Jason asked, a little pleadingly, no doubt.

Piper hung her head as she felt anger fizzle in her gut. "Chiron banned it." She grumbled.

Jason's eyes widened. "He _what_!?"

"You can't be serious! Wouldn't he go after a missing camper?" Reyna gushed.

"He would. I've known Chiron for a long time; he'd go after a missing camper _himself _if he could. I think Mr. D had something to do with it." Annabeth theorized.

"Mr. D never does anything. Why would he have something to do with it?" Percy asked.

"It's odd." Reyna began, "But maybe Bacchus _did _have something to do with it."

"You're not a daughter of Minerva for nothing." Hazel told Annabeth. Annabeth jabbed Percy in the ribs.

"See." Annabeth motioned towards the group. "_They _believe me!"

"Ow." Percy muttered.

"Guys," Piper said, looking around, "Let's talk about this somewhere else. Just in case Mr.D hears us."

"I'm not sure Mr.D would care," Frank said, "But okay."

Fifteen minutes later, they were at the amphitheater with Nyssa, Rachel, Nico, and Grover. Jake hadn't come back yet, and they just managed to get Nyssa to stay. Leo had some very loyal siblings.

"Are we going to get started or what?" Nyssa griped.

Annabeth rested her elbows on her knees, and clasped her hands together. "I think we have no choice but to get a quest."

Nyssa nodded. "We've been searching the woods all day. Honestly, it would be too much to hope for if we went with him being in Bunker 9."

"You're missing something." Rachel started, "Chiron banned anybody leaving Camp Half-Blood."

"This won't be a sanctioned quest." Annabeth smirked.

"Woah. You're gonna leave Camp Half-Blood, with no permission?" Rachel asked.

"They did that to save me!" Grover bleated.

"And get back the Golden Fleece." Annabeth added.

"You make me feel so important." Grover huffed.

"You're a Lord of the Wild, G-Man!" Percy exclaimed. Grover blushed.

"Don't forget, Percy snuck out on Blackjack once." Thalia added.

"Who's going?" Jason asked. Annabeth furrowed her blond eyebrows.

"Definitely you and Piper. Percy has to go," She paused for a moment before adding, "Because he's snuck out twice, and he might have more experience."

Percy shrugged. "You just have to leave fast."

"Somebody has to cover you." Reyna said.

"Some people have to stay here."

"People won't miss me or Nico if we're gone." Grover offered.

"Nice thinking. We have a tactical advantage." Annabeth said.

"That messes our original plans up." Piper stated.

Annabeth shook her head. "We'll need a backup team. We're not gonna have any idea where we are going."

"I can solve that." Nico said.

"How?" Piper asked, slightly doubtful.

"Percy, where's Mrs. O'Leary?" Nico asked.

Percy smirked. "Roman Camp, with Hannibal." Nico whistled, using a whistle made of ice.

"I thought it broke!" Percy complained. As if on cue, the whistle shattered.

"I made a new one." Nico backed up as a gigantic black dog leaped out, bronze collar and all.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"'Son of Hades' ring a bell?" Nico gestured to himself.

"Oh." Percy laid back further on his wooden bench.

Mrs. O' Leary barked, shaking the whole pavilion. The gigantic dog romped around for a few minutes, nearly killing Piper twice, and finally fell asleep.

"So," Annabeth said breathlessly, "We've got that covered. We need teams."

"Of what?" Frank asked.

"Demigods. One team to actually set out on the quest, another for backup, and another to catch leads." The daughter of Athena explained.

"What kind of leads?" Nyssa asked.

"Clues, and such." Annabeth cleared.

"Grover and I can do backup, because we're not expected to be here." Nico offered, and Grover nodded.

"Like I said, that's a tactical advantage. The camp is used to your absence, but if anybody needs you, we'll be found out." Piper hoped that was true.

Hazel spoke, "Me, Frank, and Reyna can help with backup, since we're Roman." The aforementioned group nodded.

"That works. So, Romans for backup, what's next?" Annabeth queried.

"The researching people?" Percy asked.

"I can do that. I can tell Jake, and we can Iris Message you from a spring or something." Surprisingly, Nyssa offered.

"You don't want to go on the main part of the quest?" Piper asked.

Nyssa shook her head. "I build stuff. I don't kill it."

Annabeth pondered. "You, Grover, Nico, and Rachel? Not a bad team. Rachel can use the internet without getting slaughtered by monsters."

"Coolio. I'm not exactly the quester type." Rachel readily agreed.

"Coolio?" Piper snickered.

"Eh." Rachel shrugged.

"The main quest." Annabeth prompted.

"Well, that's obvious. You, Piper, Jason, and Percy." Reyna announced.

"Yeah." Hazel agreed.

"More coolio." Rachel said, inspecting her paintbrush.

"Where the heck did you get a paintbrush?" Percy asked.

Rachel stared at him as if he'd gone crazy. "This is my lucky paintbrush."

"Ohh-kay." Percy replied.

Nyssa shrugged. "I have a lucky hammer."

"Seriously?" Jason chuckled.

"Yeah." Nyssa gave Jason a look. Piper laughed.

The rest of the day was a blur. Literally. Piper was frustratingly going in and out of focus. One minute, she would be fine, and the next her vision would be blurry, she'd have a horrible headache, and her hearing would blare. Blare, as in become so loud she can't hear what everybody was saying. She had no idea what was going on, but nectar and ambrosia didn't help.

"Piper? Are you okay?" Jason was looking her over worriedly.

Piper wanted to shout, _I feel like I just got trampled by Mrs. O' Leary! Help!_ but she said, "Yes."

"You don't look like it."

Ugh. Why did Jason have to be so cute? She mentally groaned. "I'm fine. Really."

"No, you're not." Piper's vision blurred. She suddenly felt feverish, like her insides were burning. Her hearing was zoning in and out, and Piper couldn't focus on background noises. She could barely see Jason, and he was right in front of her. Piper rubbed her temples and groaned, audible this time.

"Piper." Jason snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Listen. Are you ignoring me?" Piper focused on his fingers. Jason shook her.

"Woah. I'm back."

"You were saying something. You kept mumbling some sort of rhyme, something about Alabama." Jason said, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Anything else?" Piper asked desperately. What was going with her? What was Alabama to her? She'd never even been there.

"Uh, hammers? Hamsters? I don't know. I couldn't really hear you."

"Let's go into the woods." Piper said abruptly. What? Since when did she want to go into the woods?

"Uh, Piper, it's almost curfew." Jason gushed, but Piper dragged him anyway.

"Come on." She said with venom. It wasn't her voice. Piper didn't want to say that.

"Uh, Piper - Ah! Pipes! Stop!" Jason jerked his hand away. Piper kept moving. Jason followed her through the woods, but she broke into a run. Jason tried to pull her back, but she just ducked away and kept running.

"Bunker 9?" Piper asked herself. "What? Why would I want to be at Bunker 9? Leo's not here."

"Piper." A breathless Jason said behind her. "You're starting to scare me. Leo isn't here."

Piper stormed over to him and grabbed the collar of his shirt. "What did I say!?" She growled.

"Piper. Stop, now." Jason grabbed her wrist. "What is wrong with you?"

Piper collapsed. "_She came from Alabama with a love before sixteen.." _

Jason caught her. "You said that, except there was something about a hamster." Jason settled her on the ground. Piper looked straight forward.

There was a black horse, bearing a bronze mask and mechanical hind leg, racing into the cliff wall. Right where Bunker 9 was. Piper screamed.

"Wha-?" Jason whipped around. And where the horse stood was a pile of smoldering ashes.

"I'm going mental. That's it. I'm going mental." Piper hugged her knees. "Yeah. I'm going absolutely mental."

"Shhh, go to sleep... Don't you dare charmspeak me." Jason said as he picked her up.

So she did just that. She fell asleep. unfortunately, she had a dream.

_Two people stood right in front of her. One was a boy, about fifteen, with blond hair and eyes the color of the sun. The nest was a girl, with long, black hair. Her eyes were a fiery brown._

_"You don't have to. You don't have to run, just because of who you are and what you do." The guy said._

_"Yes, I do. To run is to beat Thanatos at his own game." The girl replied, backing up._

_"But who said Thanatos was here?" The guy asked._

_"Zane, I'm going to run. I run better than I burn, and that's saying a lot." The girl said._

_"We could go to Camp Half-Blood!" Zane exclaimed._

_"Zane Wiles, this is where I say goodbye, and you live a happy life, and I run forever. There is nothing I'm better at." Piper wanted to scream _No! Don't leave! _but the girl had disappeared._

_The scene shifted. But, it shifted to darkness._

_"She comes from Alabama with a love before sixteen... She comes from Alabama with a hammer on her knee... She came from Alabama with the dangerous need to flee... She came back to Alabama only once and never left... Because she was a horse's ghost with a spear in her chest..."_

Piper woke up screaming.

**A/N: Failure. Utter failure. *hangs head in shame* Is it too shortish?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: As you can see, I'm not doing Annabeth or Percy POV's. I wanna get in more Leo chapters. XD So, I feel like doing shout outs. Haha! This chapter's shout out is...**

**trustingHim17! You're awesome! **

**I'll try to make this chapter longer than the rest. **

_**JASON, CHAPTER 4: We Come to A Decision at Long Last**_

**Piper was giving Jason** a heart attack. She was screaming bloody murder! The way she'd acted, running off into the woods? That gave him chills. Now she's saying she's going mental.

What the Hades happened while Jason was gone?

Frankly, he had no idea. She didn't mention anything.

But her words haunted him. _She came from Alabama, with a love before sixteen... _And then something about hamster knees. Or hammer knees?

"Piper, it's going to be okay. You're fine." Her eyes shot open. For a scary moment, they were brown. No kaleidoscope, nothing. Just brown. In the lack of light, her hair looked black.

"J-Jason." Piper stuttered.

"I'm here. Shut up. No screaming or freaky poems," Jason told her. Piper winced.

"I'm sorry. I-It just felt like I'd been stabbed, or, or," Jason cut her off.

"I was the only one there." He said softly, "And I'm taking you to the Big House."

"B-But..." Piper trailed off. From her heavy breathing, he guessed she was asleep. Jason sighed. Awkwardly pushing his way through the door, he made it into the Big House.

He carefully set her down on the couch. There was a creak, and noise wafted in to the room. Jason whipped around. Hazel, Grover, Frank, and Annabeth walked out of the room down the hall.

"Um, Jason? Explanation, please?" Annabeth looked from Piper to Jason.

"Piper's freaking me out." Jason simply said.

"Why?" Hazel asked.

"She thinks she's going mental." Jason began, "And she woke up screaming bloody murder after she randomly ran to Bunker 9. And she said a weird cryptic message."

"Like what?" Frank asked.

"Um, something like _She comes from Alabama with a love before sixteen. _And then something about hammers. Or hamsters." Jason replied, worriedly.

"I doubt it's hamsters." Grover said.

"Hammers..." Annabeth though for a moment, "Hephaesteus!" She snapped her fingers.

Percy came into the room. "Huh?"

"What the heck are you guys up to?" Jason exclaimed, "You're all here!"

"Movie night. Chiron's visiting the Party Ponies, and Mr.D is knocked out." Percy said.

"Hephaesteus' symbol is the flaming hammer, right?" Annabeth questioned.

Jason nodded.

"Leo. Hammers. Get it? This has something to do with Leo! Guys, we have a lead!" Annabeth finished, excitedly. What?

"Leo's not from Alabama. He's from Texas. And Leo is a guy. And he's 16, without a girlfriend." Jason clarified.

Annabeth smacked her forehead. "I never said it was about Leo. I said it was _connected _to Leo."

"How could it be connected to Leo?" Frank asked, expression confused.

"Um, yeah?" Percy agreed.

Annabeth groaned. "You're so dense."

"Of course I am. 'Seaweed Brain' didn't come from nowhere." Percy smiled at his girlfriend.

Annabeth playfully slapped him on the arm. Jason coughed.

"Right." Annabeth blushed, "Leo's not the only child of Hephaesteus, right?"

"Nope." Frank popped the 'p'.

"Exactly. So, it could be about his sister." Annabeth theorized.

"But, what does that have to do with Leo?" Jason asked.

Annabeth studied the ground. "I don't know yet."

Percy grinned. "You just had to add 'yet' onto that, didn't you?"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain." In spit of herself, Annabeth smiled.

Nico walked into the room, but stopped dead cold. He narrowed his eyes at Piper. "What happened?" Nico tentatively walked forward, as if there was something in the room he didn't want to disturb.

"Do you know something?" Jason jumped. Nico held up his hands.

"Maybe. I can tell there's a spirit in the room." Nico said.

"Huh?" Jason asked. He hadn't expected that.

"Duh, Nico. We're in here, " Percy said, quite dumbly.

Nico glared at him. "A dead spirit. You would call it a ghost."

"We're being haunted?" Frank looked around, as if some nasty thing was going to pop up out of the wall.

"No." Nico swallowed hard, "Piper is." Jason decked him in the face.

"Jason! You're not allowed to punch my brother!" Hazel said, pulling him back. Jason immediately felt guilty.

"Gee, you Romans." Nico said a few choice words under his breath.

"You just said my girlfriend was haunted!" Jason complained.

"Sorry, Sparky, but that's not a good reason to _punch me in the face_. I'll make sure you get haunted." Nico growled. The group was silent. Jason swallowed down his guilt. He shouldn't have done that. How could he have let his anger get the best of him? Meanwhile, Nico was glaring at him. Hazel was looking at the both of them pleadingly. Frank was glancing back and forth, as if he was expecting a fight. Annabeth looked like she was trying to figure something out, and Percy was... staring at the wall listlessly. Figures.

Jason glanced at Piper worriedly. Her face was pale, and she was shaking as if she was absolutely terrified.

"Well," Nico started, and Jason glared at him, "It seems your girlfriend here is a, uh, _gateway , _of sorts."

"How?" Hazel asked, even if she was a daughter of Pluto, Hazel wasn't good with anything that had to do with death.

"A soul - not a dead one, mind you - is trying to tell her something." Nico explained loftily. Jason felt the urge to land a fast one to the pale boy's jaw, but he decided against it. Using the son of Plu- Hades as Jason's personal punching bag wasn't going to help Piper.

"Not a deceased soul? Then how can it haunt the living, if it's not dead?" Annabeth scrunched her eyebrows together.

Percy gasped. "You - not knowing something!?"

To Jason's surprise, Annabeth blushed. "Shut up." She mumbled.

"Good question. This soul isn't human." Nico replied.

"_What!? _Animals don't even have opinions!" Jason shouted.

"Jason, you might wake up Mr.D!" Grover warned, and Jason sat dejectedly back down.

Nico smirked. "Right. But this one does, so, Annabeth, any thoughts?"

Annabeth absent-mindedly tapped her finger to her chin. "Well, what if the soul was, um, formerly human? Can you decipher that, Nico?"

Nico frowned. "Nope. I don't deal with animals. They're weird."

Hazel gave her half-brother the evil eye. "I'm going to have to teach you a thing or two."

"Um, no." Nico said.

"So, Piper is being haunted by some sort of animal. Great." Jason concluded sarcastically.

"Pretty much." Nico nodded.

"Animals aren't that bad..." Grover mumbled.

"See?" Frank gestured to the satyr, "He agrees!" The two high-fived. Percy rolled his eyes.

"So, the satyr and the shape-shifter have formed an alliance. Typical." Percy snorted.

"That alliance is a total contradiction." Annabeth stated.

"Huh?" Frank asked.

"And so are you." Annabeth added.

Even Jason was confused. "What?" Percy asked.

Annabeth looked at her boyfriend, narrowing her eyes. "Even you are."

Nico stared at the daughter of Minerva. "Annabeth, I know you only understand big words, but 'what' means 'elaborate'. "

Annabeth glared at Nico. "Frank is a contradiction because most Canadians vote for peace, while the Chinese are more war-like, and he's a son of the war god, no less."

"You put all that together, in two seconds?" Frank looked a little reproachful.

Annabeth ignored him and said, "Satyrs never fight, and Grover made an alliance with the son of Ares. And Percy, you're real name, Perseus, is pronounced 'Per-Zeus'. And you're a son of Poseidon." Annabeth clarified.

Jason smirked. Percy pouted.

"Oh, Annabeth," Percy said, "You have me lost."

"When are you not lost, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth nudged his shoulder.

"Um, in the ocean?" Percy rubbed the back of his neck.

Annabeth rolled her gray eyes. "Of course."

"Hey!" Percy whined.

Jason, loosing interest in the squabble, turned his attention back to Piper. His heart twisted when he saw her face with a mask of distress. Piper, the girl who killed a Giant. Piper, the girl who could charmspeak anybody back to life.

Piper, the girl he loved.

The next day, Jason opened his eyes to find himself passed out in the chair beside the couch. Pulling himself from the comfy upholstery, he peered into the room down the hall, inside his friends had knocked out all over the place.

Coming back into the livingroom, he was a bit startled to find that Piper was no longer on the couch. Jason was absolutely relieved when he heard a clunk from the kitchen. He stepped through the doorway to find none other than Piper McLean, smirking triumphantly and eating a waffle.

"Good morning, Sparky." She said, smiling brightly, as if nothing ever happened.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked, striding over to the chair next to her and sitting down. Sunlight poured in from the window by the table. The clock on the stove read 7 o' clock.

Piper put her fork down and looked at him. "I'm fine, really."

Jason stared at his palms a moment before saying, "I'm sorry."

"For what, Superman?" Piper giggled.

Jason frowned. "Superman?"

Piper shrugged. "Yep, Pikachu."

Jason scowled. "Pikachu? What is that?"

"Nevermind. And that one was clever for me!" She waved her hand in dismissal.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jason asked.

Piper gripped his hand. "I'm _fine_ Jason. No weird poetry today."

"D-Did, you, maybe, have a dream? Something?" Jason asked tentatively. He needed to know.

Piper's expression darkened. "Maybe." The daughter of Aphrodite replied, eating a slice of her waffle.

Jason leaned in. "Did you?"

"Yes." Piper sighed.

"What was it about?" Jason pressed, gently, though.

"I really don't know what it means." Piper grumbled, and explained her dream.

Jason scratched his head. "What does it mean?"

"I know it has something to do with Leo." Piper concluded.

"Maybe," was all Jason said. He couldn't be too sure.

At that moment, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the resident oracle, filed into the room and poured a glass of milk.

"Good morning, lovebirds." Rachel greeted.

"Hello, Rachel." Jason greeted back. Almost instantly, Piper broke out into a grin.

"Rachel - I have an idea. Jason, come with me."

"Huh? Are my oracle skills in need or something?" The red-headed girl asked.

"Nope," Piper said, "Your mortal ones."

"My mortal ones. Yes, that makes so much sense." Rachel muttered.

"Pipes, what are you planning?" Jason asked.

"You know how that guy's name was mentioned?" Piper queried, grinning madly.

"Yes," Jason said, cautiously.

"Well," Piper smiled, "We're gonna look up Zane Wiles, and figure out who he is."

Ten minutes later, the group of demigods were anxiously pacing the livingroom. Jason just wanted to know who this Zane person was. Percy and Annabeth were discussing something in hushed tones, Frank and Hazel were sitting on the couch, Nico was explaining to Piper what happened while she was asleep, Reyna was sharpening her Imperial Gold dagger, Nyssa was fiddling with a small machine, and Grover was having a conversation with Thalia about her time as a tree.

"Yes, I think this is who he is..."

"For the last time Piper, your dead dog is not haunting you!"

"Hazel, aren't you bored the least bit?"

"Just a little sharper, now."

"Darn... Stupid screwdriver. It's not small enough!"

"Wasn't being a tree peaceful and delightful and all-around better?"

Jason groaned inwardly. Why couldn't anybody just be quiet for once? The noise certainly wasn't helping his nerves. Jason checked the clock. Seven-thirty-seven. He paced back and forth.

"Wise Girl, you blew my mind."

"Nico, Spots really didn't like me."

"Frank, yes, I'm bored. Turn into a bird, will you? It's funny."

"Yes! Perfection!"

"Ha! In your face, you stupid screwdriver!"

"Grover, why in the name of Zeus almighty would I want to be a pine tree?"

Jason continued pacing, waiting nervously. How come he was the only one who really wanted to know?

When the door to the Big House squeaked, signaling it was opened, the room hushed. Rachel raced into the room, holding a peice of notebook paper.

"Zane Geoffery Wiles." Rachel read, "Lives in Crookton, Alabama, 16 Water Street. Zip code: 16709."

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," Piper said, hugging the oracle, "You are amazing."

"So, Zane Wiles is still alive." Annabeth stated.

"I guess so." Rachel shrugged.

Nyssa kicked her feet up on the table. "You know what this means?"

"What?" Percy asked.

"Let's take a roadtrip. To Crookton, Alabama, 16 Water Street." Piper clarified.

**A/N: Failure! D: As far as the town goes, I completely made that up. I don't spend my free time looking for Alabama's small towns. I made up the zip code, street, town, and number. I'm cool like that. :P**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I will make it up to you guys for the wait! I've had writer's block on this! I SHALL FINISH THIS! I SHALL! By the way, if you want to know why I've had writer's block, it's the MoA messing with my head. I wrote a MoA plotline, and now I have a HoH plotline and I want to write it so bad. Well, here goes nothing! The people who reviewed, no, the people who toom the time to read this are officially as awesome as Rick Riordan! If I get this fuzzy inside knowing people like my writing, then imagine J.K. Rowling! And Rick Riordan! And James Patterson! And Suzanne Collins!**

**_CHAPTER 5: The Epic Win of Doom- For the Monster_**

**After Leo's lame** pity party, hating on Disney phase, and actually sleeping, the sun decided it was a good time to wake him up. Since Leo couldn't exactly murder Apollo, or go to a comfy bed to sleep more, he decided to keep moving. After all, it was all he could do.

In the heat of the moment, Leo had run from the only place he'd called home since he was nine – Camp Half-Blood. He'd left behind friends, family, inventions, and safety. All for a life on the streets.

At least, that's what you would think. Hephaestus himself had warned Leo that he'd lose control – and he'd already nearly had.

Leo couldn't hurt his friends like he'd hurt his mother – he couldn't get attached that way. Never again.

"Well, up an at 'em, Valdez." Leo whispered to himself.

Sleeping on the ground was never a good idea, as Leo had proved many times in the past, and this time it was no better. He had a grand crick in his neck that would probably stay put for two weeks, and a lower back ache that sent old people to shame.

If Leo didn't get moving soon, all sorts of little beasties could show up, so it didn't take Leo long to leave his Disney-storybook-bridge. Nor did it take long to reach the first town.

Leo gladly pulled a twenty from his pocket. He hadn't realized it until he saw an old-fashioned walk-up diner, but his stomach was protesting all actions that didn't involve eating something.

_My friends probably don't even miss me_, Leo thought bitterly.

Little did he know, they were preparing to go to Alabama for just a hint of where he was.

OoOoO

Leo's feet felt like Hades.

He walked through two towns, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and Camp Half-Blood. It proved no easy feat, as he'd gotten used to having a home by now. It wasn't easy getting on your feet in the streets; in fact, it was nearly impossible. But Leo had done it as a nine-year-old the first time he'd ever run away, and he'd have to do it again at sixteen.

_Unfairly_, Leo mentally added. It wouldn't be his choice. Technically, it was his choice – his choice to protect his friends from burning deaths. Come on, of course he'd protect his friends.

Leo wouldn't let anything happen to his friends because of what he could do.

Leo had secretly promised himself that right after he'd attacked New Rome under the influence of an eidolon. In Leo's ADHD mind, he remembered that it had taken showing Camp Jupiter the sphere in which the eidolon was trapped for Reyna to forgive him.

Leo was eternally thankful she had, and eternally ecstatic. Dude, Reyna was absolutely gorgeous!

With her smarter-then-thou attitude, cold hostility, and don't-mess-with-me aura, she was definitely Leo's type.

And, she'd been the only girl Leo had never been brave enough to ask out and hit on. That in itself was a major sign that Leo was totally in love.

And her hair – ahem, enough thinking about Reyna. Leo had to mentally cut himself of from his ramblings about her. She was just that awesome.

Then there was Piper, and Annabeth, and Percy. Leo could see why Percy and Annabeth would spend sparse time with him – between the exploding of Camp Jupiter and the fall into Tartarus, Leo didn't know them that well.

He'd expected more from Piper.

But, then again, everything he holds close always disappears. So, Leo runs – to keep the backlash from hurting anyone.

'The backlash' was just what Leo called it whenever his stomach boil and his fingers ache – when he had to burn. He'd tried to hold it back before, but it had always killed him – not literally, but it was extremely painful and Leo could almost believe it was lethal.

Usually it happened when his bottled-up emotions got the better of him, and he combusted.

People at Camp Half-Blood believed he ran to figure out answers to his life, others believed it was just to make his life exciting. Leo hated these assumptions. Nobody other than Cabin Nine and the seven knew the first thing about his past, and that was only that his mother had died and he'd run away six times. The latter was universally known.

But they really didn't know that he'd killed his mother, ran to protect others, and wasn't as happy as he seemed.

"And we're back to the pity party," Leo muttered.

And that was when the dragon showed up. Right out of thin air, the mustard colored beast had taken up residence right behind him.

_At least_, Leo thought, _I'm on a country road where nobody will send me to a mental unit for whacking a scaly Labordor with a flaming hammer._

A voice inside his head countered that idea. _A country road where nobody will find you while you bleed to death._

Leo was pretty surprised, to say the least.

The dragon, twenty feet long with a pair of bat-like wings double its size and knifelike teeth that could shred cement like butter, had appeared just behind him. _Out of the middle of nowhere._

Doesn't that just seem kinda odd? No? Well, Leo thought it was odd.

"Yo', what's up, ugly?" Leo taunted, brandishing his hammer.

The dragon roared in a way that sounded somewhat similar to a laugh.

"You laughin' right now, but I'm gonna kick your –"

The dragon wasted no time. It whipped out its scaly mustard-yellow tail and flung Leo into and uncomfortable pine tree. It parted its jaws, revealing a not-so-nice maw and shot out a column of flame.

Leo actually laughed at that one, since the dragon actually had a confused expression. And on a monster that's supposed to know what it's doing, it was absolutely priceless.

"Dude, that's not gonna work. Fire-user ring a bell?"

The dragon growled a deep, resonating sound from the pits of its stomach and lunged. Leo barely dodged, what with the lizard being so fast, but managed to get a blow in that broke its jaw.

"Yes!" Leo cheered. The dragon snorted and utilized its tail again; this time, throwing him into the briar patch. The thorns tugged uncomfortably at his clothes.

"Gods, do you have any manners?" Leo shouted to the beast.

Needless to say, he ducked a solid swipe from the dragon's forepaw.

"Can we end this? I'm tired today." Leo grumbled, finally managing to pull out of the briars. Man, they needed some sort of gardener there. Those things hurt like Hades.

The beast, not happy with his escape, bellowed flames once more aimed at his head.

You'd think it would learn.

Leo threw his hammer like an idiot, but he totally forgot he was weaponless when he watched the hammer get stuck comically in the creature's mouth.

It tried to swallow it, but it was having a little trouble forcing the metal down its throat. Leo laughed.

"This puts a whole new meaning on 'epic fail'!" Leo summoned a jar of Greek fire, since he'd tinkered with his tool belt and given it the ability to summon demigod things, and hurled at the monster. Leo hit the ground hard, rolled behind the tree, and let the green fire light up the back of his eyelids.

Now that was what Leo considered a 'win'.

**A/N: I'm going to post TWO chapters today to make up for you guys' wait. TWO! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, here's the update I promised! Trying to get this up and running. This is more of a filler chapter, to slow the pace a bit, because in the books the pace doesn't pick up until somewhere around chapter ten. Can't have a fast-paced fanfiction! The next update will most likely be tommorrow. Thanks for reading and thanks to those who reviewed!**

_**CHAPTER 6:**__** Driving isn't a Roadtrip Priority**_

**Piper was finally **going to make sense of her weird 'haunting'. Piper didn't really quite see it as much of a haunting as an annoyance – really, Piper didn't want to have some animal ghost haunt her. Especially not her dead dog that really hated her.

But as Piper slid in next to Jason in their 'assault vehicle' as Percy called it, somehow, she felt that this trip was going to end up with more questions and less answers.

"You ready?" Jason whispered. Ever since her little 'moment' at Bunker 9, Jason had been treating her like glass; frail and defenseless.

"Yeah," Piper whispered back. It wasn't that she was mad at Jason; she just didn't like to feel useless. Like she did now.

Annabeth appeared in the dim camp van headlights, having worn her Yankees cap to sneak away at campfire.

Percy would somehow disappear, being the only one from his cabin.

Rachel, Grover, Nico and Cabin Nine were supposed to cover for them, and hopefully the quest would be short and sweet.

But, just because they were demigods, Piper didn't think it was going to end that way.

Annabeth silently slipped in the car, and hurriedly turned off the headlights.

"What the heck were you thinking? Leaving the headlights on?"

"Whoops." Jason and Piper replied, simultaneously. They blushed.

Annabeth blinked. "You just blushed on rhythm." She slapped her hand to her forehead.

Bang! Percy smashed his fist against the window of the driver's seat.

"We're letting Percy drive!?" exclaimed Piper.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth shouted, forgetting her quiet pretense.

Percy made an exaggerated movement with his hands, pointing to the door.

Annabeth blushed a bright scarlet as she fumbled the unlock button.

Percy yanked the car door open and revved the engine as soon as he was in. "You finally decided to unlock the door?"

"Oops." Annabeth mumbled.

Percy laughed and Annabeth glared at him.

"I guess we all have our moments." Jason commented.

"Shut up, Jason," Annabeth answered, though she said it with a tone of laughter.

"Yeah, shut up, Pikachu," Piper agreed, using the joke from earlier that morning.

Annabeth and Percy cracked up, but Jason asked, "I still don't know who Pikachu is,"

That was too much. It sent the entire car – excluding Jason – into a mass fit of hysterics. Jason mock-pouted.

"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed. "Drive!"

"Oops!" Percy shouted, taking off down the street with a roar of the engine. Piper's head slammed against the back of the seat.

"Perce?" Jason asked.

"Yeah?"

"Not that hard."

"Sorry." Percy apologized.

"I'm all right – my brain's scrambled but I'm all right." Annabeth confirmed.

Percy rounded a hairpin country road turn going seventy – needless to say, Piper's stomach flipped.

"Hey!" she protested.

"Sorry, Piper! But I think there's another camp van behind us…"

"Oh, gods, Argus is driving it." Annabeth claimed. "We're goners."

"Percy, speed up!" Jason egged Percy on to eighty.

Annabeth watched the side mirror. "They're about ten feet away."

"How are they going to stop us?" Piper queried.

"I never thought about that," said Percy.

"In the movies they always use guns to shoot the tires," Jason offered.

"Wait – so you've seen freaking James Bond movies, but you haven't heard of Pikachu!?" Piper protested. Come on, that wasn't possible.

Percy rounded another bend, and Piper found out just how long cars could balance on two wheels.

"Percy," Annabeth wheezed, her seatbelt constricting her neck, "I thought you could drive!"

"Wise Girl, I can, but good driving isn't my priority."

"Then you need to get your priorities straight!" Annabeth coughed.

"Don't unbuckle." Percy advised.

"Really, Percy? Really?" Annabeth pulled her seatbelt from her throat.

"Down that road!" Piper suggested.

Percy whirled the car onto a tree covered street and turned the corner before the following van could come over the rise of the hill.

"Slow down a bit, Percy. I'm about to throw up." Piper spluttered.

Percy obeyed and slowed to seventy.

"Now, how do we get from here to Alabama?"

OoOoO

Percy kept to the smaller roads rather than the interstate, just in case any monsters went after them four lanes of traffic wouldn't be in the way.

The ride was going to take a while.

But, keeping to the country roads also meant he could go faster with less chance of crashing against other cars and getting pulled over.

It also meant absolutely no chance of traffic, but that turned into no handy restaurants to eat at, and Piper's stomach was roaring.

"Well, since we've got all this time and nothing to do –"Annabeth began.

"Let's plan our backup plan, and the backup plan for the backup plan, and the backup plan for that backup plan, and then let's review our actual plan before we plan some more," finished Percy.

Jason grinned.

"Percy, you forget we don't actually have a plan. So we need to make one." Annabeth huffed.

"Annabeth has a point. We can't exactly go up to this guy and say 'Are you Zane Wiles? Why am I being haunted by your pet cat?'" Piper agreed.

"What are we going to ask him?" Jason question.

Percy shrugged. "I'd just wing it."

"So we definitely know not to wing it." Annabeth teased.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

"We need to start out small," Jason offered.

Annabeth nodded. "We could also use charmspeak, because we have that advantage over him."

"And the tactical advantages begin…" Percy muttered, grinning.

Annabeth punched him in the arm and continued.

"So, as I was saying, I could go in with Piper –"

Those words made Jason and Percy break out in protest.

"You two could be backup. I have the hat, Piper's got charmspeak, and two girls is a lot less threatening than two guys and two girls."

Jason and Percy grumbled assent.

"So it's a plan!" Piper confirmed.

"A crazy plan at four o'clock in the morning," Jason agreed, "But a plan."

And it was four in the morning. They'd left at sunset, around nine, and it'd been a seriously jacked up day.

And so, Piper fell asleep against the windowsill, along with Annabeth and Jason.

Unbeknownst to Piper, Percy grumbled, "I better not fall asleep while driving this car… Annabeth would have my head on Lamer…"


End file.
